How Can Small Businesses Embrace Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives?

Small businesses have a lot to gain from D&I initiatives just like larger companies. Diversity and Inclusion initiatives have the potential to increase productivity and thus profitability in the workplace. With diverse teams comes creative thinking and problem solving from a multitude of perspectives. Small businesses can embrace D&I initiatives by doing the following: 

1. Do an internal audit of your organization - as a leader, ask yourself questions about the current status of your business in terms of Diversity and Inclusion 

Look into your organization to see the current state of Diversity and Inclusion practices. Ask questions such as Do both men and women have equal chances to advance? Is your business inclusive of LGBTQ individuals, POC, etc.? Did all your employees go to the same elementary, high school, and/or college? and so on. 

2. Be transparent about your findings to your employees and potentially your customers - follow the example of Intel 

Intel’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion officer, Barbara Whye, commented on how “It’s difficult to really fix what you aren’t being transparent about” and released an infographic to the public on the diversity makeup by race at their company. Sharing these results depict how as a company you are taking the steps to instill change and are promoting real actions rather than just pushing out words. 

3. Develop D&I initiatives specific to your company 

There are many ways to go about creating D&I initiatives. Generally, to create an inclusive environment, companies must encourage employees to be themselves while celebrating the differences and similarities they have among other faces in the company. Uplifting employees by allowing them to conduct programs, events, charitable initiatives, etc. focused on issues that matter to them is one example of how companies can emphasize inclusivity. For diversity, diving deeper into the hiring process is important. Unconscious biases can influence decision making during the hiring process and unfairly give an advantage to one group over another. Knowing what your unconscious biases are beforehand can prevent the lack of equal opportunity that may arise. In all initiatives created, small business management must make sure to communicate the new changes effectively to all employees in order to systemize the programs. 

In addition, keep in mind the following best practices: 

• Diversity does not only have to come from new hiring. Other avenues of your business can also be changed to be more diverse. For example, using different vendors can create diversity. 

• Reward good D&I practices and discuss inappropriate behaviors. 

• Management/Higher ranking employees should set the example for other employees to follow.

As a social impact initiative, Rem and Company also offers free consulting services and resources to small businesses and nonprofits impacted by COVID-19. Our pro-bono consulting teams provide small businesses with the opportunity to identify and prioritize issues facing their business, propose innovative strategies, and facilitate execution. If you are a small business or nonprofit in need of assistance, learn more about how we can help.